The Monterey City Council has whittled its choices down to one candidate to be the next city manager.

The Herald learned Wednesday the remaining candidate is Army Col. Danial Pick, who has been commander of the Defense Language Institute and Presidio of Monterey since May 2010.

Council members, citing ongoing confidential discussions about the city's potential contract offer, declined to identify the candidate who could succeed longtime former City Manager Fred Meurer.

Meurer retired at the end of 2013 after 22 years with the city.

If Pick, 48, becomes Monterey's next city manager, it would be a comparable choice to Meurer.

Meurer came to Monterey as public works director after an Army career that was capped with him as the colonel in charge of housing and public works at a still-operating Fort Ord.

The City Council met in closed session last week and voted 3-2 to go forward with discussions with the final applicant. That action was reported in open session.

But interim City Manager Mike McCarthy said Wednesday that no job offer has been made by the council. The council is scheduled to meet next week, also in closed session, to hammer out what its terms for hiring would be, including the length of the new manager's contract and a compensation package.

"I think the council is taking its time with a measured approach," McCarthy said.

Councilwoman Nancy Selfridge and Councilman Alan Haffa cast the dissenting votes on the favored candidate, but they declined comment until the process is finished.

Councilwoman Libby Downey said she was concerned about saying anything prematurely while the matter is being discussed in closed session.

Downey did say, "I think it is a good thing, and I'm excited about it."

Councilman Frank Sollecito wouldn't identify the selected candidate, but expressed surprise that it was being kept confidential. Sollecito said he didn't think the council's split vote would be a problem.

Mayor Chuck Della Sala left a voice message, saying the council had selected a city manager candidate and would discuss terms at its meeting Tuesday.

Pick, a 1987 graduate of the University of Washington, started his Army career as a military intelligence officer and went on to serve with armored and Special Forces units. He became a Middle East foreign area officer in 1996 and his assignments included Kuwait, northern Iraq and the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. He speaks Arabic, Persian-Farsi, Persian-Dari and Assyrian.

Pick didn't respond to a request for comment through the base public affairs office. He came out on top in the second recruitment by the Monterey council for a new city manager.

The first round ended when council members decided none of the top candidates was what they wanted. The city manager is the top administrator, responsible for running city operations and carrying out policies set by the City Council.